Archaeologia Cantiana Vol ( 75 )

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Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 54 1941 ( 75 ) ARTHUR HUSSEY. WE have to record with muchregret the death on January 25th, 1941 of Arthur Hussey, of Wingham, at the ripe old age of seventy-nine.

1 Archaeologia Cantiana Vol ( 75 ) ARTHUR HUSSEY. WE have to record with muchregret the death on January 25th, 1941 of Arthur Hussey, of Wingham, at the ripe old age of seventy-nine. He had been for fifty years a member of the Society, for thirty-two years a member of the Council and since 1927 a Vice-President. During that long time he had been a most diligent student of the Wills in the Canterbury Probate Registry and of various MSS. in the Chapter Library; and his contributions to Archceologia Cantiana were most valuable and numerous. Probably his most important work was the East Kent portion of Testamenta Cantiana published in 1907 in conjunction with the late Leland Duncan, in which, arranged under parishes, are extracts relating to almost every church in the County with a valuable introduction to each half of the County. It would take too long to enumerate his many contributions, a list of which will be found in the Index. He was for many years a regular contributor of archaeological articles to the Church monthly magazine. He did much work on and for the Wingham Parish Council from its inception in 1894, and compiled " Chronicles of Wingham ", a useful little book, published in He was the most unselfish and patient worker and when he came across any extract which he thought would interest a friend never failed to send it. His MSS. notes and more valuable books have been given by his executor to the K.A.S., and some printed books to the Canterbury Archaeological Society. R.U.P. RICHARD COOKE. MB. RICHARD COOKE, who died at his home, the Croft, Detling on May 12th, 1941, was one of the oldest members of our Society, and for fifty-five years had been one of its

2 76 OBITUARY. most loyal and generous supporters. His father, George Nethercote Cooke was one of the original members. Richard, who was his only surviving child, joined the Society on the death of his father in In 1902 he was elected to a seat on the Council, and in 1911 became Honorary Secretary, the duties of which onerous office he performed with so much efficiency and courtesy that on his retirement, thirteen years later, our President (at that time the second Lord Northbourne), acting on behalf of other friends, who were desirous of showing their appreciation of their late Secretary's services, presented him with a gold watch suitably inscribed ; and at the same time the Council added Mr. Cooke's name to the list of Vice-Presidents. To the Society's Library at Maidstone Mr. Cooke was a constant benefactor by the gift of books. He also presented a complete set of the six inch to the mile Ordnance Maps of the County, upon which are marked, as they occur, the sites of all antiquarian discoveries ; and whenever funds were needed for the excavation of these sites Mr. Cooke was always a ready and h'beral contributor. To the Maidstone Municipal Library he was also a good friend during his lifetime, and in his Will he bequeathed to it any books in his own library which the Curator of the above Institution might care to select. The Cathedral Library at Canterbury was also indebted to Mr. Cooke for the gift of books, and a very handsome pecuniary contribution towards the cost of rebinding and repairing the ancient Monastic Registers. Although extreme modesty as to his own attainments made Mr. Cooke's contributions to the pages of Archocologia Cantiana somewhat rare, he possessed an extensive knowledge of the antiquities of the County ; and was a student in many branches of research outside that limit. Perhaps the width of his interests will be best shown by giving a list of the learned societies of which he was a member. They included : The Society for Hellenic Studies, the British School at Rome, the British School at Athens, the British Record Society, the British School of Arohseology in Iraq, and the Royal Asiatic Society. He was also a Fellow of the

3 MR. RICHARD COOKE.

4 OBITUAEY. 77 Meteorological Society to which for many years he supplied statistics as to the rainfall in his district. To Charitable Institutions, and indeed to all good causes that might be brought to his notice, Richard Cooke was ever a good friend. During his lifetime little or nothing of the width of his sympathies was known for he was one of the most modest and self-effacing of men, but a list of the various charitable institutions with which he was connected, drawn up after his decease shows that in the last year of his life he was giving assistance to no less than sixty-eight of these Institutions! To the Kent Archaeological Society with which he had so long been connected, and had served so well, Mr. Cooke bequeathed one hundred pounds. C.E.W. RALPH HARE GRIFFIN. MB. RALPH HAKE GRIFFIN died at The Warren House, Micheldever, on the 20th August, 1941, in his 87th year. He was of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law Registrar of Designs and Trade Marks, ; Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, 1900 and Secretary thereof He was the second son of the Rev. William Nathaniel Griffin, Vicar of Ospringe, Kent, Senior Wrangler and Hon. Canon of Canterbury, by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Richard Hurst. Born at Ospringe April 30th, 1854, baptized in Ospringe Church, May 14th, 1854, educated at Tonbridge School, where he was in the Vlth Form and left as head boy, having gained a Smythe Exhibition and was also Exhibitioner of St. John's, Cambridge from whence he graduated. He gained an Inns of Court Studentship of the first-class in Roman, Civil and International Law and 'Jurisprudence 1879, and a Scholarship in Common Law at the Inner Temple 1880, called to the Bar (Inner Temple) He was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Garden of Remembrance at Woking, August 22nd, Such is a summary of the chief events of my friend of nearly 40 years standing. His work for his beloved County

5 78 OBITUABY. of Kent is of great importance because he brought to it the trained intellect of the lawyer and the result was the completeness of his effort. As seen in the magnificent series of photographic reproductions of the Heraldry of the Cloisters and South Porch and Gateway of Canterbury Cathedral. He was a most accurate recorder of his observations, a trained Herald and this enabled him to piece together from scattered evidence many a tangled bit of family history. His work with his friend Mill Stevenson, F.S.A. on the Sepulchral Brasses of Britain is now the standard authority on the subject. He also was responsible for the volume on Kentish Brasses and for many papers on the subject and on others, both in our Archeeologia and that of the S.A. He was a singularly handsome old man with a markedly judicial type of countenance, a most pleasant informative companion though tenax propositi, where he was certain of his case and a strong disliker of ill-informed presumption to which he could administer the necessary corrective in the most impressive and courteous way. Personally to me, who am not much younger, I shall miss his always helpful guidance for he would bring out of the treasury of his mind things both new and old, all bearing on the subject discussed and also his cheerful and humorous companionship of so many years. Vale et in ceternum vale Amice! P. WILLIAM COOK. FREDERICK WILLIAM HARDMAN, LL.D., P.S.A. As we go to press we regret to announce the death at the age of 81 of Dr. Hardman, a valued member of the Society and of the Council. A full appreciation will appear in the next volume of Archceologia Gantiana. Kent Archaeological Society is a registered charity number Kent Archaeological Society

ACTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY.

1884.] Action of the Mass. Historical Society. 249 ACTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY. HISTORICAL At the conclusion of the Eev. Dr. PEABODY'S Address, CHAKLES DEANE, LL.D., of Cambridge said : MR. PRESIDENT